At Least I'm Not A Hufflepuff
by Mikey Sparks
Summary: STORY UP FOR ADOPTION. My muse has run away on this one.
1. Meeting

Title: At Least I'm Not a Hufflepuff

Summary: What if Albus Severus, contrary to popular belief, never went to Slytherin? And just went straight to Gryffindor? Oh, but, the real story is what if Scorpius Malfoy went to Gryffindor too? How would that change things?

(nobody has any idea, really, since according to the books, they get on the train and the book ends. so it's totally up for interpretation. btw llamas rule. just pointing that out.)

Enjoy, folks.

--

_Chapter One_

Platform 93/4.

It was good to be back at the station again. The last trip they made to pick James up, Al had stood there, thinking, it was almost his turn to go. He'd been so eager to actually go on the Hogwarts Express ever since he got his letter.

And now, there he was, staring at the long red train, lugging along his trunk, feeling terribly excited.

His father had given him a small talk just now, and Al wondered, as he climbed up the steps with Rosie, if he'd really be sorted into Slytherin. Dad and Uncle Ron used to tell them tales about the Battle, and everytime there was something to do with that particular House, nothing good either. But, his father had said that even Slytherins can change their ways.

And, there was the fact that his second name was the name of the former Potions Master and Head of Slytherin. He was so glad that his first name was Albus. _No offense to Professor Snape, _he thought grimly, pulling his trunk through the corridor of the train, _but the nickname Sev isn't very appealing. To me, at least._

He'd seen his Dad nod at a tall, thin man with blonde hair. He had this cold demeanor, which kind of creeped Al out. And, the kid next to him looked exactly the same. Blonde hair, slim figure, neutral expression. But Al had seen that small hug the boy's father had given him. It was just like how his Dad hugged him and James and Lily. And then that facade, that coldness, Al knew it was just a mask. Like every other.

_Stop thinking for a while, won't you?_ James's voice rang in his head. _You'll trip over your own shoes._

Al smiled at the thought, and kept moving, until he reached an empty compartment. Or, well, almost empty. There was only one boy in there, and that was the boy from the platform, the one with the blonde hair. He was sitting at the window, gazing outside silently.

To enter, or not to enter? That was the question playing on the edge of his mind. After all, he was supposed to be sitting with Rosie and the others. He felt rather drawn to sitting somewhere else, though. After a few seconds, he slipped in, and asked, "Do you mind if I sit here?"

The boy didn't even look up. "Go ahead."

Al grinned, and stood on his toes to toss his trunk up on the shelf. That failed completely, and he gave a squeal as it fell and knocked him down to the floor.

The boy shook his head, and pulled out his wand, muttering, "_Wingardium Leviosa."_

The trunk floated up and settled neatly on the shelf next to the boy's own trunk, and Al let out a sigh. "Thanks, mate. And, how'd you know that? We haven't even stepped foot in Hogwarts yet."

"No problem." He went back to looking out the window. "My dad taught me." Even though his face was turned to the window, Al could still see the hint of a smile on the boy's face.

Al observed the silent boy for a second before saying, "I'm Al. You?"

The boy tilted his head up, allowing his grey eyes to fall on Al's face. "Cor. Good to meet you." He made a small sound of surprise. "_Aye_, so you're that guy's son, aren't you? The one who nodded at my dad earlier, on the platform."

"Yeah," said Al. "They must've known each other in Hogwarts. What House was your dad in?"

"Slytherin," said Cor, closing his book. He sat up straighter, facing Al completely now. "Yours?"

"Oh." Al smiled. "Gryffindor. I hope it's my House. I've heard kinds of scary things about Slytherin House, no offence."

"None taken. Actually…" Cor took a deep breath. "My mom doesn't know, only my dad, but I'm not planning to go into Slytherin."

Al nodded, eyes wide. "But then, won't she be mad? And wasn't your father in Slytherin?"

"My dad knows me. He knows me from the inside out. _He's_ the one who said I would be a great Gryffindor," said Cor seriously. "He said that the Sorting Hat takes your choice into account." He raised an eyebrow when Al's face burst into a gigantic smile.

"My dad told me the exact same!"

"Brilliant! Let's both be in the same House. I don't want to be stuck in Hufflepuff, alone," admitted Cor, wincing at the last word.

"Yeah," said Al. He'd made his first friend, before even reaching Hogwarts. Boy, was he excited to tell Mom and Lily about Cor. "Let's be friends, 'kay? I'm Albus Severus Potter." He held out his hand. "But I like Al better."

Cor took it. "Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy." He smiled softly. "But I like Cor better."

"So do I."

"Y'know, my dad's godfather was named Severus," said Cor. He added in a hushed voice, "That is, Severus Snape. He was the Potions Professor and the Headmaster before Professor McGonagall. Before he passed on."

"Really?" Al looked like he was going to tear at the seams with joy. "I was named after him. My dad said he was a brave man."

"Mine too." Cor nodded. "There are a few pictures of him in the house. My favourite one is of him standing next to dad in his last year, both smiling."

"I'd like to see a picture of him one day," said Al thoughtfully. "It would be nice to see the man I was named after."

"Yeah," agreed Cor. "Maybe we can search the castle for any portraits of him. There might be one in the Headmistress's office."

"I'd have to get in trouble before I could go to the Headmistress's office," laughed Al. Cor laughed along with him, grinning as Al described the type of prank he'd have to pull, and added a few details in as well.

The two boys continued talking for the entire trip to Hogwarts, until a prefect stuck her head in and said that they were arriving soon. Al and Cor changed into their robes, both still without House crests.

Al had this feeling that Cor _would_ make a great a good Gryffindor, and so would Al. Maybe they would be in Gryffindor together! Feeling cheery at this idea, he grabbed his trunk in one hand and Cor in the other, dragging him off the train with a small yelp.

It was going to be one heck of an adventure this year.

--

*does sign language for good morning*

My muse went and offered me cookies to join ff dot net. How could I ever refuse? So, I have (finally) posted part of a WIP I kept for a while, and is hoping that it is worthy enough for the other ff dot net -ers.

HAVE MERCY. Flame if needed, like, if an atrocious spelling mistake suddenly pops up, or something seems wrong, of if the story just tanks. Lots of room for improvement.

On the other hand, review and rate! It makes the fairies happy. :D

-Sparky.


	2. Sorting

_Disclaimer which I totally forgot in the first chapter_: I do not own this. If I did, I would've put in a little sister for Scorpius. : P

Enjoy.

--

_Chapter 2_

The lake was _huge_.

His father had told him that the lake was big, but he never imagined it to be _so big_. Maybe he would get to see the Giant Squid. Oh, _shoot_, he'd lost sight of Al.

He craned his neck over the sea of students, trying to catch a glimpse of the green-eyed boy. He didn't, and instead was accidentally knocked to the ground by a student who fell over his trunk. The other student barely glanced at him, just got up and laughed with his friends.

Cor sat on the ground, barely remembering what his dad had advised him. _'There weren't a lot of people who liked me back then, so be careful. They might just keep that grudge alive.'_

"Need a hand?"

He looked up. There was a tall boy standing over him, smiling. Cor nodded gratefully and pulled himself up with the help of the other boy. Then, he glanced to the side and—whoa, twins? The other blonde boy smiled an identical smile to his brother, and said, "Yeah, people always get surprised the first time. I'm Lorcan."

"I'm Lysander," added the boy who'd pulled him up. "We're of the Lovegood family."

"I'm guessing… Malfoy?" asked Lorcan. "By your hair."

"Yeah… Cor Malfoy." Cor smiled. "I believe I've met Mrs Lovegood once. She's a nice lady. Did you guys really find a Crumpled-Horned-Snorkack in Bulgaria?"

"Nah, we're looking in Greece next," Lysander said with a grin. "So, we'll see you at the Feast, and you should really be going to the boats."

Cor turned around, seeing the gamekeeper Hagrid ushering students into tiny boats by the lake. He looked at the twins again and grinned. "Thanks. Wait, what House are the two of you in?"

"You'll see!" called Lysander over his shoulder. "See you at Hogwarts, Cor Malfoy!"

--

"Cor!" called Al. "Hey, Cor! Where are you?"

He stood on his toes, trying to see past the crowd of chattering eleven year olds, and yelled once more, "Oi, Cor!"

"Oi, Al!"

He spun around, almost losing his balance. A certain Weasley stood behind him, looking rather cross. "R-Rosie?"

"Where in the name of Merlin were you?" she said, shaking her head. "We thought you were going to sit with us up front!"

"Uhm, well, I…" Al couldn't finish his sentence, as Rosie dragged him off towards the boats, where a teacher with a crooked hat was calling for them to get in the boats, four to one boat each. As Al and Rosie and two other students got into one, he couldn't help but feel excited. They were about to be Sorted!

But wherever had Scorpius Malfoy gotten to?

--

He got pushed along into a small boat, which creaked beneath his feet, and three other kids got in after him. They huddled together, those three, whispering to each other. Cor wished he had someone to whisper to.

_Oh yeah. Where is Al, anyways? He must have gotten into another boat. Didn't he say his cousin was in the same year? A Rose Weasley or something. He must have gone with her, then._

_At least we'll see each other there._

_At the Sorting._

His heart gave a funny little flip. What if he ended up in Slytherin anyways?

Bending over the boat to skim his fingers over the water, he sighed.

--

The Great Hall.

Definitely "great", all right.

The first years peered around curiously, some with expression of awe, and some with… even bigger expressions of awe. You could say that Al was in the latter category.

The enchanted ceiling was the best part; he'd mentioned that to his dad one day after reading _Hogwarts: A History_, and his dad stared strangely at the offending book for some reason.

Aunt Hermione told Al that his dad had never bothered with _Hogwarts: A History_, and referred to it as _The One That Nobody Except Hermione Granger Ever Reads _to Uncle Ron when they were still in Hogwarts, which, when heard by Aunt Hermione, caused their Potions homework to repeatedly hit them on their heads.

Al and James had both laughed at that. James hadn't bothered with the book either, it seemed. He used it to whack garden-gnomes out of their yard, though he kept it secret from Aunt Hermione. One time, Uncle George had strolled into their garden just as James had sent one flying, and Uncle George hummed, and said, "You know, maybe I should try that too."

But now was not the time for reminiscing.

Al glanced up at Professor Flitwick, the Deputy Headmaster, who was reading names off a scroll.

"Cadwallader, Gerard!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Corner, Owen!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

_So close to being Sorted._ He inwardly melted into his shoes with nervousness.

"Cerise, Anna!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

A few more C's passed. Al looked behind him. Rose seemed excited at the prospect of putting the Hat on. They were at F now.

"Finley, Michael!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Forrester, Lionel!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Oh. Hey. Cor was a few persons in front. Too bad he couldn't see Al.

"Jenson, Christina!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

They were heading towards L now.

"Leighton, Xavier!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Llewellyn, Elizabeth!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Then…

"Malfoy, Scorpius!"

--

A/N: My apologies for taking so long. My internet was down, and I had some writer's block. I have another Next-Gen fic involving Teddy Lupin and James Potter coming soon, and I'm only 2000 words in. So, yeah.

Other than the lame excuses, they're finally here! At Hoggy Hoggy Hogwarts!

Some of the names are taken from characters in the Harry Potter world. If you recognize any, then you're awesome. Lol. Okay.

Review, review, it's almost as good as SPEW! :D

- Sparky


	3. Surpises

Disclaimer: I'M DISCLAIMING YOU. OKAY? GO. RUN TO ROWLING. GO. *weeps* JUST LEAVE MEEEE.

My muse smacks me for making such short chapters. Apologies.

--

_Chapter 3_

The teachers at the staff table murmured uncertainly.

"Spitting image of his father, if I should say," said the Defence Against The Dark Arts teacher quietly.

"Oh, come on, Blaise," said Neville Longbottom. "He can't be that bad." He grinned at the former Slytherin, who was now a very good friend to him. He'd remembered Blaise to be quieter than the other Slytherins, never really participating in Malfoy's bullying and such. Blaise was still quiet, and tall, and all the Slytherin sixth and seventh-years now fawned and sighed over their DADA teacher.

Neville inwardly smiled. Who would've thought he'd end up being good friends with an ex-Slytherin? Ahah.

"Leonardo _is_ quite fond of him," mumbled Blaise Zabini, referring to his son, a ten year old who loved going over to the Malfoy's home to play Quidditch with little Scorpius. "And Scorpius is rather polite for a Malfoy."

"There you go." Neville beamed.

"Easy for _you_ to say, he might turn out to be another Slytherin prince in disguise," whispered the Arithmancy teacher, taking a sip from her cup. "You, Longbottom, the Head of Gryffindor, have _nothing what so ever_ to worry about."

Then the Hat spoke.

--

"Scorpius Malfoy... hmm... not bad, not bad, an interesting mind... oh! What do we have here..." The Hat made a strange sound. "So, you... brave, _and_ ambitious, smart... and clearly loyal to family. Oh ho, so a fit for Slytherin then... or perhaps Gryffindor?"

_Anywhere,_ thought Cor. _As long as I can be myself._

The Hat was momentarily silent.

--

"It's been more than _six minutes_!" whispered Neville. "What do you think is going on?" he asked, eying the quiet sea of students in front of him.

"No idea," whispered Blaise back. He glanced at the worried face of Ara Malfoy at the Slytherin table, sitting next to a boy with shockingly green hair. "But I have a bad feeling about this..."

--

The Hat grinned. "Well, Scorpius, be prepared."

"Yes, sir," replied Cor automatically.

"For, this is a case for... GRYFFINDOR!" roared that Hat.

--

Neville fell off his chair.

Blaise caught him in time to see the equally stunned looks on the teachers' faces. He himself had a similar expression, if he could only assume. Then, he smirked to himself. This was going to be a good year.

--

Scorpius slid off the stool and handed the Hat back to the blinking Professor. The Hall was silent, until Al started clapping, and then Gryffindor slowly started applauding too. The Slytherins, however, had strange looks on their faces.

Except a certain Malfoy.

Scorpius glanced over at his older brother, Ara, a fifth year Slytherin, who waved and mouthed, 'congrats'. Ara was pretty understanding about the whole 'oh-you're-a-Gryffindor' thing like his dad was, and taught him a lot of hexes in case someone tried to up him. Scorpius gulped, and looked at the Gryffindor table.

Oh Morgan _and_ Merlin.

He didn't really like their expressions at the moment. He was, of course, excited to get the House that he'd always thought he'd be in, but right now?

It seemed like a bit of a bad idea.

Sliding into a seat at the end, and ignoring certain glares of doom; he sighed and thumped his head onto the table.

This was going to be a long year.

--

Al Potter watched as his first friend at Hogwarts banged his head against the table, and sighed. Poor bloke.

His turn soon...

"Potter, Albus Severus!"

Heads turned, and whispers increased as he walked up to the stool where the short Charms professor was waiting with the Hat.

"Did he say Potter?"

"The second one?"

"James' brother?"

"Potter as in _Harry Potter?_"

Al resisted the urge to snort and roll his eyes, and instead, pulled the Hat so far down his head, he could barely see, and _then_ made an annoyed sound.

"Ah... so, another Potter, is it?"

Al almost fell off the stool. For a second, he'd forgotten that it talked.

_Yes,_ thought Al. _Another bloody Potter._

The Hat seemed pleased. "Hmm... that kind of attitude, eh? Smart too... capable of making your own decisions... but, of course, a need to help others. I suppose that's a trait your father passed down."

Al said nothing. The Hat carried on.

"Ah, well... you could be cut out for Hufflepuff..." said the Hat slyly, trailing off.

_But, Cor..._ thought Al. _We made a sort of pact._

"That as well... hmm... so. It's your choice, after all."

Al nearly fell off the stool again. "You mean I get to _choose?_" he nearly asked out loud. Some of the first years heard him, and relaxed grins spread across their faces.

Professor McGonagall nearly smiled. Professor Longbottom did. So did the man next to him.

"You fit in any one of the Houses; nonetheless, you're showing some consideration towards one of the Houses, if I may..."

"Go ahead, then."

The Hat seemed even more pleased. "Ah, I like this Potter. He's a right chance for... GRYFFINDOR!"

The Gryffindor table pretty much burst into cheers, and two kids started cheering, "We got Potter! We got Potter!" James was clapping too, with a grin on his face.

Al felt relieved, and headed for the end of the table, completely passing his brother and friends, and sitting down next to Cor instead, who still had his head on the table.

He elbowed the boy lightly, and said, "Oi, wake up, sleepyhead. You'll do yourself no good like that."

Cor glanced up, and immediately started grinning. "I thought you'd sit with your brother and friends?"

"You _are_ my friend, you dolt!"

Both of them grinned, practically ignoring the rest of the Gryffindors' gawks. A Potter being friendly with a Malfoy? Never before seen. Well, until now, that is.

"Weasley, Rose!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

This time, James fell out of his seat. "Rosie got into Hufflepuff?"

The girl in mention shot him a glare, before heading over to the Hufflepuff table. _Rather unexpected_, thought Al. Everyone thought she'd be in Ravenclaw, or Gryffindor. Especially Uncle Ron.

Al looked around the Hall, and caught sight of Teddy Lupin, grinning at him. Teddy was like another big brother to them, and even thought he was in Slytherin, everyone still loved him. Teddy was best friends with Cor's brother, a fifth-year named Ara, and Aunt Luna's twins Lorcan and Lysander, and some guy named Jeremy, who was a Gryffindor, when he came to Hogwarts, and they were sort of the inter-House Marauders.

But that was another story for another time.

Right now, Al grinned to himself.

There was still tomorrow to come.

--

A/N: Right-o, one more chapter down, and many more to go! I must say, thank for all the reviews and alerts and favourites, though there aren't many, but thanks anyways!

So, whaddya think of them new characters? Hope they're not too OOC or anything. Ara Malfoy kinda continues the constellation-tradition. If you know what I'm talking about, then let me know in a review. Ahah.

So, more to come! Stay tuned!

Howlers, flames, critiques, reviews, compliments, bananas and llamas appreciated!

-Sparky.


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